What causes more death than war?
This summer, the United Nations voted to make access to clean water a recognized human right. This was welcome news to those fighting the disturbing reality that more people die each year from contaminated water than all forms of violence and war combined.
But the UN vote is just the beginning. We now need to make good on the commitment to provide access to clean water to the nearly 1 billion people worldwide who currently rely on bacteria-infested water that causes everything from diarrhea to dysentery.
To generate support for this effort, this week Change.org is mobilizing thousands of bloggers from more than 100 countries to write about the water crisis as a part of our annual Blog Action Day, held every October 15th.
The goal of Blog Action Day is to take a single day out of the year to focus the world's attention on one important issue. This year's participants include leading tech blogs like The Official Google Blog, international blogs like Global Voices, and government blogs such as The White House blog. We have also partnered with organizations on the front lines of the water crisis, including UNICEF, charity: water, and Water.org.
But beyond these prominent voices and organizations, the success of Blog Action Day depends on people like you and the millions of others dedicated to a world without unnecessary suffering. Here are three easy steps you can take to get involved and help make Blog Action Day 2010 the largest event ever to increase awareness about the water crisis:
1. Register your blog or website: Are you a blogger or website owner? Then we need your help - register your blog or site today, and don't forget to grab an action widget to get your readers involved.
2. Sign the petition: Together with US Fund for UNICEF, we're helping to build a movement of people across the world calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to accelerate the UN's work to supply clean, safe drinking water to the world's poorest populations. Help grow this movement by adding your name.
3. Raise funds for water: Raise money to provide clean drinking water to those in need through charity: water, which allows you to create a fundraising page to raise money to build wells in Africa, or Water.org, where a $25 donation provides clean water for a lifetime for one person.
In the three minutes it took you to read this email, 12 people have died from unsafe water. Please join us in fighting this tragedy by supporting Blog Action Day 2010: Water.
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